What it is:
Ephedra is the herbaceous stem of ephedra sinica Stapf, or ephedra intermedia Schrenk, et Mey, or ephedra equi setina Bge.(family ephedra- ceae),and the provin- ces of Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongo lia, Gansu,Liaoning and Sichuan are its major producers.It is har- vested in autumn, dried and cut into segments and used unprepared or after being stir-baked with honey.

Property:
Pungent and bitter in flavour, warm in property, acting on the lung and urinary bladder channels.

Effects:
Diselling pathogenic factors from the exterior of the body by diaphoresis, promoting the flow of the lung-qi to allay asthma, and inducing diuresis to reduce edema.

Used for:
1. Exterior syndrome of excess type due to affection by exopathogenic wind-cold manifested as aversion to cold, fever,headache,stuffy nose, anhidrosis, floating and tense pulse. It is often used in combination with cinnamon twig, bitter apricot kernel and liquorice, known as Ephedra Decoction (Mahuang Tang).

2. Cough with dyspnea due to im- paired dispersion of the lung-qi. It is often used in conjunction with bitter apricot kernel and liquorice, known as decoction of Three Crude herbs (San-ao Tang). For cough and asthma with profuse thin clear sputum due to obstruction of the lung by cold-phlegm, it is used in com- bination with asarum, dried ginger,pinel- lia tuber, known as Minor Decoction of Green Dragon( Xiao Qinglong Tang). For cough with dyspnea and fever due to re- tention of pathogenic heat in the lung,it is used with gypsum, bitter apricot kernel and liquorice known as Decoction of Ephedra, Apricot Kernel, Gypsum and Liquorice (Ma Xing Shi Gan Tang).

3. Edema. For general edema with fever,it is used in conjunction with gypsum, as in De- coction for Reli- eving Edema( Yuebi Tang). For edema with deep pulse and cold manifestations, it is used together with the lateral root of aconite and liquorice, known as Decoction of Ephedra, Aconite and Liquorice (Mahuang Fuzi Gancao Tang). Apart from the above uses, ephedra can be used together with coix seed and white atractylodes rhizome to make up such decoctions as Decoction of ephedra, Apricot Kernel, Coix Seed and Liquorice (Ma Xing Yi Gan Tang), and Decoction of Ephedra with White Atractylodes (Mahuang Jia Zhu Tang) for arthralgia due to wind- dampness. Ephedra can also be dispensed with pre- pared rehmannia root, cinnamon twig and white mustard seed to from the Yang- activating Decoction (Yanghe Tang) for the treatment of car- buncles of yin na- ture and subcutaneous nodules.

Dosage and ad- ministration:1.5-10g, decocted in water for an oral dose. For dispelling pathogenic factors from the exterior of the body by diaphoresis and inducing diuresis to reduce edema, ephedra is usually used unprepared, while for relieving cough and dyspnea, stir-fried.

Precautions:
Because ephedra has a strong diaphoretic action, it should not be used in large dosage. It is con- traindicated for spontaneous swea- ting due to exterior deficiency, night sweat due to yin deficiency, and asthma of insuffi- ciency type due to failure of the kidney in regulating the respiration.It should be used cautiously in cases of insomnia and hypertension.